Etiology and treatment of central precocious puberty

ABSTRACT

The timing of pubertal onset is occurring at younger ages. This phenomenon is associated with many environmental factors such as sufficient nutrition, stress, many kinds of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and genetic background. The loss of transcriptional repression induces kisspeptin release, resulting in pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion, which trigger pubertal onset. According to many reports, gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists therapy for patients with rapidly progressive central precocious puberty is effective for improving final adult height. However, those results were obtained from the treatment of relatively young patients at earlier stages of puberty. A large cohort study investigating the environmental causes of precocious puberty as well as genetic factors is needed.